The section marked in yellow will be used for the new development

PLANS to build new council homes on part of a children’s playground in Canonbury will take away “everything that brings us pleasure”, said furious residents this week.

With more than 16,000 people on Islington Council’s waiting list for housing, the local authority is proposing to build a four- or five-storey block of one- and two-bedroom flats on the concrete “hard standing” area of Morton Road Park to provide approximately 18 new homes.

According to the council, at least half of the new-builds will be at affordable rents while the section of the park lost in the development will be partly replaced by extra green space.

But at a public meeting in Popham and Cummings Community Centre last week, residents told the Tribune they were unhappy about the proposed changes.

Kate Rushbrook, who has lived in her home overlooking the square for more than 30 years, said: “They’re calling it ‘hard standing’, but it’s not. It’s a children’s play area. Kids run around it, they play five-a-side. Today, the nursery were out there. There are youth projects that take young people to play football there. They want to take that away, and then they moan about knife crime. Between Highbury Fields and Rosemary Gardens, this is one of the few open spaces.”

The “hard standing” earmarked for development – a concreted section of Morton Road Park that abuts Ecclesbourne Road – is beside a children’s play area recently refurbished by Islington Council, and is covered with the markings of a football pitch, although there are no goals or enclosure.

To account for the loss of open space, the council says it will extend Morton Road Park in the other direction, therefore narrowing Morton Road to one lane of parked cars.

But Ms Rushbrook said this was only “a token”, adding: “The whole length of Ecclesbourne Road will be overlooked by this [new development]. Those flats will be boxed in. From the top floor you can see fireworks on the river at night. Everything that brings us pleasure will be lost.”

She also told how many residents had not received information letters from the council regarding the proposed development.

Ms Rushbrook made 200 copies of the letter and delivered it to surrounding flats herself.

Another resident, who lives off Essex Road but did not want to be named, told the Tribune: “I’m 72, and I can remember coming down to see my aunt and uncle and playing in that park when I was little.

“My children have played there, my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren. We grew up in it. We are all up in arms about this.”

Islington’s housing chief, Councillor John Woolf, said: “We all want Islington to be a borough where everyone has a safe, secure and genuinely affordable home, which is why we are doing everything we can to meet the challenge of the national housing crisis and increase our housing supply.

“The proposed development at Morton Road is at the very early stages of engagement with the local community, and local people’s feedback will help to inform plans for the site. We will hold a second engagement event in December. We are asking local people to feed back to us via Lets Talk Islington web page, which is open until January 7.”